"Europe is an overwhelmingly secular continent." A rather sweeping statement that is belied by the relatively recent disintegration of Yugoslavia and its fragmentation into Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim majority successor regimes.
Unfortunately, gender inequality remains deeply embedded in Europe and the Americas despite the occasional symbolic/token emergence of suitably qualified women in leadership positions. A broader understanding of the diversity of human sexuality has emerged out of the growth of scientific research and there will be a time lag between discovery and acceptance of scientific challenges to religious orthodoxy in all societies - as has occurred among some Christian movements in the West.
Since the 1970s, it has been evident that in the United States, India, Israel, and the Islamic world there has been an increased reliance upon the use of religious justifications for state policies and, also for challenges to state policies. Many societies in Europe and its secular traditions were unprepared for the combined impact of these religious conflicts in other regions upon their domestic politics. This complacency was compounded by the inability of European governing elites to comprehend that the US-Israeli alliance - with the rise of the Reagan administration backed by the anti-secular "Moral Majority" in the US and its close alliance with the Likud party - would pursue a strategy of collaboration with a variety of Islamic currents and regimes that would destabilize the post-1945 international order.
Europeans will have to develop their own strategies for intellectual, cultural, and diplomatic engagement with the Islamic world outside of, and inside, Europe.

“America is a country of immigrants, with a dynamic economy that has enabled newcomers, time and again, to achieve great success. In Europe, by contrast, improving one’s social standing has always been very difficult; and, at a time of economic stagnation and staggeringly high unemployment, it is not getting any easier.”
This statement alone defines the core issue about the social/religious issues/strife between Europe and its Muslim immigrants. While, I recognize that Western intervention in the Arab World has not helped however, this intervention was not limited to the Arab/Muslim world. We must also understand that unfortunately, Muslims in general are at the bottom of literacy tables. Islam of the last 500 years with the advent of Wahhabism has been at odds with secular education which has only exasperated the problem of integration or at least acceptance of social norms by Muslim migrants who in majority cases are after all economic migrants for the most part. Lack of education and skills are perfect combination for Jihadist ideology.
The answer clearly lies in what this article so clearly suggests. Economic uplift of these communities not through handouts but, through sustainable employment and educational opportunities.

Shlomo Ben-Ami wonders what to do with the Muslim population in Europe, and whether there is a sound "solution to Euro-jihadism." A "divorce" is hardly an "option," but a "marriage" such a one proposed by Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss Muslim academic at Oxford, can't be realistic and ideal in our secular, liberal society. During an interview in 2010 he said: "I don't want a peaceful coexistence. I want a living together that is constructive and active."
Ramadan's argument is quite controversial as he demands that "Islamic ethics and values should be injected into the European system. Europe would then not just tolerate Islam, but actually embrace it as an integral part of itself." Perhaps the scholar has been locked up in his ivory tower for too long to realise "that Europe is an overwhelmingly secular continent, with a profoundly forward-thinking approach to ethics." Progressiveness is unfortunately not the case in the "deeply religious" Islamic world. "When Islamists speak of political or social reform, they are typically looking backward."
The author also takes Ramadan to task for erroneously blaming Europe for its "involvement in the wars in the Middle East, its supposed collusion with Israel’s suppression of the Palestinians, and its support of Arab autocrats," while in reality the US is to blame for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, "unconditional support to Israel," and the propping up of Arab autocrats. In fact "it is Europe that has consistently criticized these policies - often harshly." Due to geographical closeness Europe is keen on having a stable Middle East, and it "has offered even more direct help to Arab countries in recent years." The turmoil in the region has taken a toll on security in Europe, while "America is not being subjected to a major surge of jihadist sentiment within its borders."
In the wake of the attacks in Paris and Brussels the scholar condemned acts of terror, presenting himself as a bridgebuilder between Islam and Western values. Even when he said terror is not just “mad,” “irrational” and “inhuman,” there was an undertone of resentment towards the West, prompting critics to accuse him of "extremism, anti-Semitism, religious bigotry, promoting the oppression of women and waging a covert holy war on the liberal West."
Growing up in Europe, Ramadan knows the grievances of young European Muslims, as a result of "a disastrous deficit of effective policies related to social justice, education, housing, and employment". Stuck in a vicious circle, "marginalization generates frustration," which breeds contempt of state authorities. Young men become radicalised and join ISIS in Syria, or carry out lone wolf attacks at home. A climate of fear takes hold, allowing "the rise of raucous right-wing movements throughout the continent." As it shows, Islamophobia and Islamist terrorism feed off of each other.
The author maintains that America succeeds, where Europe has failed, highlighting the success of "integration and assimilation" for Muslims in America. Its "fundamentally religious culture enables Muslims to retain their identity to a far greater extent" than in Europe. The author thinks "America’s core values - personal responsibility and constitutional patriotism - can be easier for Muslims to swallow than Europe’s more aggressively secular brand of liberalism."
In Ben-Ami's view, even though "the West – especially the US – has made grave policy errors in the Arab world over the last 50 years, external powers cannot be blamed entirely for the region’s meltdown. That is the result of a profound civilizational crisis – one that can be redressed only by the people of the Arab world." But in a culture where soul-searching and self criticism are seen as a weakness, the region will hardly provide guidance to young disaffected Muslims in Europe. The EU has to make itself great again, so that its “European dream” will allow "all people have access to real opportunities to improve their lives. Otherwise, it will face a lost generation of millions of young Europeans – Muslim and otherwise."

Ramadan is practicing at-Taqiyya, a form of dissimulation endorsed by all Muslim scholars, particularly al-Ghazali, Ramadan's north star. At-Taqiyya allows Muslims to lie to protect the faithful, and is justified when Muslims find themselves under duress in Dar al-harb (the Land of War), as Ramadan does in the West. So he uses the vocabulary of the West to engage in a double-language, which sounds familiar to Westerners -- using words like tolerance, ethics and values knows how a Western mind processes such words. The aim, obviously is to bring Europe into the Dar al-Islam(the Hosue of Islam), under which sharia law will dominate society. When that happens, you can kiss all your Western notions goodbye.

Home grown jihadism would not be the problem it is if security communicated effectively. The so called hub of jihadism in Brussels has no less than 6 seperate police forces who do not communicate effectively one to the other.

Turkey even deported one of the bombers back to Brussels with an advice note thay he was suspious only for that information to be ignored. US jihadism meets a far more effective security activity and less pussyfooting around. Numerically the number of homegrown jihadists is tiny in a population of 500+million.

Why exactly is a response to terrorism described as raucous and rightwing - it may well have swung too far but remains overdue when security has been so poor.

As for integration, that involves having a job, and the recent influx simply do not have the skills needed in an industrialised country and between 505 and 66% are highly likely to remain jobless adding to the existing problem. Those percentages are the figures coming out of Germany. As extra help for that group cannot be provided without causing a backlash with exisitng natives with problems the only route forward will be more strenuous invigilating which is unsurprisingly the outcome already in Germany. Europe has failed, but not in the way you describe, it has failed by having poor security at all levels

'But the people of Libya surely must take responsibility for the proliferation of competing militias that refuse to unite to save their state from total collapse. '
I have no idea what this can mean. You sound like a scolding third-grade teacher deploring kiddie unruliness. Gadaffy, whatever his faults (and yes, yes, they were many) held Libya and quite a few points south, reasonably together. The observant (particularly in North Korea) will have noted that he renounced nuclear weapons, yet still was tossed out la like yesterday's newspaper. Brilliant move, Hilary.

As to Europe's 'rupture' with Islam in the 8th century - surely, it was Islam that erupted out of Arabia and by the time Charles Martel stopped them, came within an ace of taking over very significant portions of Europe. Already, they had much of Spain. This spread was not done by polite Arab youth ringing doorbells. Nor, later, was the Ottoman attempt from the East.

AS to the youth in the projects of European cities - I suspect that if it weren't Islam, it'd be something else. But both Christianity and Islam have always justified resorting to violence as a method of maintaining 'purity' of doctrine, in Europe and elsewhere. You might look at the European wars of religion, roughly 1520 - 1648. Still, in Northern Ireland. A godly excuse for mayhem is prized above all others. Because there is no rational comeback. So conscience is salved.

AS in Syria, the vast majority of people just want to get on with their lives. Until Clinton destroyed their nation, most weren't doing nearly as badly as they are now. And as the only way they have of dealing with thuggish gangs is to out-thug them, I don't know what else you expect of them. There is no legitimate government authority widely accepted. It's become yet another war of 'all against all.' Hobbes would have nodded and said, 'Told you so. Where is Leviathan when needed so desperately?'

The question is, how non-muslim non-European people integrate themselves into European system? Do they face same kind of crisis like muslim youths? if so, should Europe reckon non-muslim jihadist as well. If not, questioning European system is just fallacy. Trying to change that would be just muslim bias and bound to engulf more crisis of ethics and values.

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